Kickstarter
by Punch Drunk Marc
Summary: The sequel to "Another Road"; The nature of Ichigo & Orihime's relationship begins to change; but can Ichigo come clean about how he feels as he tries to readjust to life after the battle?
1. Chapter 1

The sequel to "Another Road". I do not own Bleach or any of it's characters; they are a property of Kubo Tite & Shonen Jump.

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The battle against Ulquiorra had been won, but the war against Aizen was far from over; and even as Orihime & Ichigo stood watching the sereneness of the white sands of Hueco Mundo, they knew that Ichigo still had work to do.

She looked into his eyes with a loving stare, but soon realized she forgot something.

She put her hand over her mouth in both surprise and embarrassment.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm so stupid, I forgot about Uryu; I have to go heal his injuries."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot; He might be dead by now." Ichigo said with a sarcastic smile

"Wahhh, don't say that." she said to Ichigo panicking

She proceeded to run over to the still downed Uryu, but was cut off by the sudden appearance of Squad 4 Captain, Retsu Unohana.

"Don't worry about your friend, I can take care of his injuries; you might want to worry about the Substitute." The captain said with a smile, pointing towards Ichigo.

"What do you mean? Ichigo is…" She turns around to see that Ichigo collapsed on the ground

"Ah! Ichigo are you ok?" She asked running to him

She got on her knees and placed Ichigo's head in her lap as she began healing him.

As he lied there with his head on her lap, she couldn't help but smile and run her fingers through his strawberry hair.

She thought of what they had just gone through, and how she was glad they all survived.

"I'm so glad that you survived…Ichigo." She said in a low voice

"Mmm, did you say something Orihime?" He said as he began to come to, startling her

"Ahh, Ichigo. It was n…no…no…nothing don't worry about it heh, heh."

"Alright then, sorry you have to bother yourself with healing me again; I guess I overdid it a little."

"Oh, don't worry; I really don't mind."

They stay in their same position for a few more minutes, before Ichigo stands up fully healed.

He looks over and sees Captain Unohana and a fully healed Uryu walking towards him and Orihime.

"Oh hey Uryu you still alive." Ichigo said with a surprised look on his face

"Hey! Don't say it like you're surprised." The Quincy said agitated.

"But yea, Captain Unohana's healing techniques really do wonders; I feel way better than before."

Unohana began to speak, "Well now that everyone is up and about; I suppose I should give you our current situation."

She began telling the three about the events that were occurring during their fights in Hueco Mundo. How Aizen and the rest of his followers are in a fake Karakura town constructed by the Squads in order to trap him; and the battles taking place there.

"I have heard that the Vizards have joined in the battle against Aizen as well."

_What? Shinji and the others? _Ichigo thought to himself.

"Aizen is a strong opponent to be sure, but one thing is for certain; You, Ichigo Kurosaki, are the only one who can defeat him."

"Me?" He said in disbelief pointing to himself

"Yes" She says nodding, "Aizen's zanpaku-to, Kyoka Suigetsu, has the ability to put whoever looks upon into a permanent state of hypnosis; altering each of the 5 senses to his will. This makes him virtually invincible to all of the Gotei 13, seeing as how we all have looked at his Zanpaku-to at one point in time."

"I don't see how that means I'm the only one who can beat him."

"Since you have not seen his zanpaku-to, you are not handicapped by its effects; which means that you can fight him on equal footing."

"Oh, I see; I get it now."

"But you said we're trapped here; so how do we get to the battlefield?"

"Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Captain of Squad 12, has analyzed the garganta that Aizen used to trap us; and has found a way to open it. We must hurry, the gate will not stay open for long, and it will take some time for him to open it again."

"Gotcha, I just need to take care of one thing first." He says looking at Orihime

She gives him a puzzled look as he grabs her hand and uses shunpo to take them to a private place they can talk.

Uryu looking puzzled asks, "What was that about?"

Unohana gives a light chuckle, "Ah, young love; so cute."

'What?!" Uryu looks at her confused

They find a spot some 50 yards away from where they were standing earlier.

Ichigo let's go of her hand and begins to speak

"Look Orihime…I…" She puts her index finger over his lips, cutting him off.

"Don't worry about", she says to him with a smile "We can talk about it later, go; go defeat Aizen."

She then pauses for a moment

…

"Just…just promise me you'll come back ok?" She said looking nervous

He puts his hand on her head, calming her down "Don't worry I'll be back…I promise."

"Good." She says smiling

They shunpo back to the others; both smiling as they arrive.

"I'm ready Ms. Unohana; let's go."

"Ok then; let us depart then."

He looks back at Uryu, "Can you take care of her from here?"

"Yea, leave her to me; we'll meet back up with the others."

"Alright sounds good."

He then looks over to Orihime smiling

_Don't worry about me, I'll come back to you…I promise_

They both smile and nod at each other as Ichigo & Unohana shunpo to Mayuri's location.

They arrive and Ichigo & Unohana enter the gargantas, with Ichigo smiling as he begins remembering his promise to Orihime.

…

…


	2. Chapter 2

The war against the arrancars is over; Ichigo has defeated Souske Aizen, but at a cost.

Utilizing the ancient technique of "Final Getsuga", Ichigo has lost his Soul Reapers and has fallen into a coma due to the intense strain of losing his powers. His friends now wait by his bedside in Urahara's shop; eagerly anticipating the moment he awakens.

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**One Month Later**

Ichigo opened his eyes, and began to stir, "W…Where…Where am I?"

"Urahara's shop." Rukia says relieved

He looked over and saw all of his friends looking at him; all of them relieved that he was safe. He looks upon all of their faces and stops at Orihime, who is fighting back her tears of happiness.

"Thank *sniff* Thank goodness your alright." She said still fighting back tears.

Ichigo was surpirsed as to why she was crying but then smiled at her.

"I'm sorry I worried you," He then looked at everyone else "all of you, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Uryu retorted, "We've grown accustomed to your recklessness by now."

"Yeah, I guess your right." Ichigo said smiling.

"Do you remember what happened?" Rukia asked him,

"No...not really. I remember learning the Final Getsuga and defeating Aizen, then this sudden pain came over me and I collapsed."

"You don't remember anything else?" Rukia inquired further

"...No, why? What happened Rukia?"

Rukia got a somber look on her face as she began to tell Ichigo what happened to him. Ichigo's eyes widen in disbelief; and this rest of his friends give saddened looks, as she begins to tell him that his spirtual powers are fading and very soon he will no longer be able to see spirits, let alone be a Soul Reaper.

Ichigo stared at the ceiling as he lay in his bed; after a few minutes to take it all in, he spoke.

"Well, I can't say I didn't think this would happen. My dad warned me that there would consequences for using that technique."

Rukia began to speak

"Ichigo..."

Ichigo cut her off, "Hey, would you guys let me speak to Orihime...alone for a few minutes?"

"What?! Me?" She asked, surprised.

Rukia looked at the two and smiled, "Sure, Ichigo. Chad, Uryu let's go see if Kisuke needs anything."

The three got up and left the room, leaving the two there by themselves.

Orihime couldn't but feel nervous as she found herself alone with Ichigo. Her chest felt heavy and her heart began beating with the speed of an olympic sprinter. She didn't know why Ichigo wanted to talk to her, and each second that passed she grew more anxious.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Ichigo spoke to her.

"Thank you...Orihime." He said as he smiled at her.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "W...Why are you thanking me?" She inquired

"If you hadn't been there, I probably wouldn't be here right now. Ulquiorra might have killed me, or my hollow self would still be rampaging all over Hueco Mundo."

He then began to sit up, ut Orhime attempted to stop him

"Stop, you shouldn't move around too much Ichigo, you're still injured."

"I'm fine. I'm feeling better now." He said as he sat all the way up.

"I'm sorry, I know you worried bout me when I left Hueco Mundo; and I apologize for that, I didn't mean to make you worry."

She shook her head, "No, it's ok. Don't worry about it, you wouldn't be you if you weren't protecting others. You had to fight, to save all of us. I've accepted that, and it's one of the reasons why I lo..." She

quickly covered her mouth with her hands when she realized what she was saying.

"Eh?" Ichigo looked confused, "Why you what?"

"It..It's nothing, don't worry about it haha." She said smiling.

"Come on Orihime, tell me." He said looking into her eyes

After continued proding, she eventually gave in. She told him about the deal she made with Ulquiorra before she was abducted; how she visited Ichigo in his room after his second battle with Grimmjow...she told him of her speech...and how she almost...kissed him.

Ichigo was surprised to say the least. He sat there perplexed; he didn't know what to say. Part of him knew that Orihime had something for him and honestly it made him...happy. And part of him was embarrased because he didn't quite know how he felt about her yet. He knew something was there, he felt it when he found her in Hueco Mundo, but he couldn't quite interpret what it was.

The pair sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes; then Ichigo broke it.

"Orihime...I...i didn't know you felt that way." He said still trying to comprehend this revelation

A sullen look etched itself onto Orihime's face"That's ok Ichigo, don't worry about it. It's ok if you don't..."

"NO! It's not that." He blurted out not thinking

Her eyes twinkled when she heard this, "What do you mean?"

Ichigo tried to explain himself, not realizing that he and Orihime's bodies were moving on their own; moving the two closer to one another.

"I...just meant that...I..." They looked deeply into each others eyes.

_Have her eyes always been this pretty?..._ Ichigo thought to himself

Orihime found herself lost in thought as well, _Everytime I look into his eyes I get this weird feeling, it scares me and my heart beats fast but..._

Before they knew it their lips began to inch ever closer to one another; their breaths began to fuse...

Suddenly the door slid open, startling the two

"Hey! Are you two done talking yet?" Rukia asked not knowing what she interrupted

"Dammit Rukia, don't you know how to knock?" Ichigo yelled at her, his face red from embarrasment

"Hey! What are you yelling at me for? All I did was ask a simple question!" She yelled back at him.

"Theres a thing called COURTESY, when you come to a closed door! You don't just go barging in like your the police!" He yelled back at her.

The two began to bicker about proper etiquitte while Orihime sat opposite of them in surprised silence.

She was relieved that Ichigo was back to his old self; and she was even more relieved that she was able to finally tell him her feelings. As she continued to watch them, she smiled and placed her fingers on her lips.

_Ichigo and I, we almost..._

She then began to giggle as she thought about it. Hearing her giggling, Ichigo & Rukia stopped fighting and both looked at her smiling as they realized that the fighting was finally over and their friend was safe and sound. Later, everyone returned home, but Ichigo had to stay at Urahara's just a bit longer to fully heal.

He began to drift to sleep when he heard his door opened. He turned to see Orihime walking through the door.

"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you." She began nervously, "But...I just thought I should stay behind...you know; just in case you needed anything."

He smiled back at her "I don't mind, stay as long as you like."

She smiled relieved, "Ok, I will, thank you."

She kneeled down next to him as he drifted off with a smile on his face. She couldn't help but smile as she watched him sleep. She enjoyed being around him, she really didn't think of anyone else but him and Tatsuki. She began drifting off to sleep as well, she continued to smile as she found herself lying next to him, grabbing his hand tightly.

_I love you...Ichigo_

...

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Second chapter was a bit short, still establishing more status quo changes. Let me know what you guys think as the story moves forward.


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